We needed to buy my son some items for an Expedition weekend with the Scouts: a backpack and a sleeping bag. We knew they needed to be DofE compatible as he would soon be moving up to Explorers, so they would need to be hardwearing, comfortable and easy to clean.

The sales assistant took her time to explain the key features of each backpack, helped my son to try them on, adjusting the back to fit his frame, and gave us enough information to make an informed choice taking into account our budget, his comfort and ease of use.

She also gave us good advice in terms of a good 3 season ultralite sleeping bag and didn't mind him trying a couple for comfort.

She was not pushy, trying to sell us the most expensive product, but gave us balanced advice, including her own experience, which we found very helpful.

My son said his backpack and sleeping bag were very comfortable during his two-day Expedition last weekend, so thank you very much to the sales team at the Pitsea Go Outdoors store, who are always very helpful whenever we visit.